Shen Zhiyun, male, Han nationality, is a native of Changsha, Hunan Province. He graduated from the Machinery Department of Tangshan Railway College in 1952 and obtained a technology and science assistant doctorate degree from Leningrad Railway College in 1961. Shen is considered a motorcycle expert.
Shen has taught at the Southwest China Communication University and published an internationally known theory about computing non-linear wheel-track creeping and sliding force; the theory is called Shen's Theory. His academic accomplishments include work in the aspects of wheel-track dynamics, curve pass theory, crawl movement stability, and random response.
Among his developments from his research are creating a forced guiding a truck's turning rack, non-rim wear, and exploring new channels for the update of thousands of trucks in China. Starting in 1988, he began the construction of a national key laboratory for traction dynamics. Shen also built a whole rolling stock scroll and vibration test platform that could simulate high-speed train operations. In 1999, he won a national award for science and technology advancement.
Shen was elected as an academician to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1991.